December 12, 2005

Canadian importer of Japanese Kei-cars

Kei cars, not hybrids or diesels, are the O.G. fuel sipping cars. In Japan, where streets are narrow and car ownership is expensive, they are very popular. If you live in Canada, you can buy your own! Via Treehugger:

Japanoid is a Canadian importer of K-Cars (also called Keicars, keijidōsha) and other extremely compact Japanese cars. . ."Japan is a country with very few natural resources. So the Japanese government created very smart laws that give special tax breaks to cars of certain size and efficiency. [...] K-Cars must be under 4.4 meters long and 1.5 meters wide. Their engines are also regulated to be less than 660cc - no more than 64 horsepower." Some have more powerful engines than the K-Cars specifications yet keep the extremely compact proportions.